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Welcome to Bonaventure Cemetery

Several years ago, in the mid-1990s, there was a best-selling fact-based novel, called “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”.  The book was set in Savannah, GA, and did make mention of the Bonaventure Cemetery.  In fact, the statue on the cover of the book was a statue that was here in the cemetery at the time.  It has since been moved, but still there was much to see in this incredible place.

Bonaventure Road

I have to admit up front, that I absolutely love cemeteries.  I’m not morbid – as a photographer, some really great images can be made in a cemetery.  After having seen the magnificent cemetery, Ricoleta, in Buenos Aires, I didn’t think I’d ever see anything that would come close to matching it.  Well, I stand corrected.  Bonaventure has to be the most beautiful cemetery I’ve ever seen.  We didn’t have a lot of time to spend exploring here, so we focused on the oldest, most historic area of the cemetery.

Upchurch Monument

This headstone monument was the most modern of the headstones or monuments that we saw.  It sort of doesn’t quite “fit” within the area of the cemetery where it’s located, but I just couldn’t resist capturing it, just because it was so creative, it made me smile!

Pair of Headstones

Part of what made some of the headstones so captivating was the detail that was included in even the more modest of them.  This pair were for a doctor and his wife.  Can you read the dates?  He was born in born in 1810 and died in 1886.  Quite a life span back in those days.

Matched Pair

This pair of headstones clearly are meant to be a pair, and altho they aren’t identical, they do match in terms of the complementary nature of their design.

Headstone Dates

Some of the headstones are from very, very long ago.  Sir and Lady Houstoun had, mostly likely, come to America from England, where they received their titles.  Keep in mind, they were born before the US was a country!  Also, Sir Houstoun only lived to be 51, while Lady Houstoun lived 26 years longer, to the ripe old age of 72.  Both Jeff and I were amazed at the dates that were reflected on some of these headstones.  I would have loved to spend an entire day here.

Veteran Headstone

Here’s another interesting headstone.  It appears Herman Lange died at about the time World War I ended.  He was 45 at the time. From the decoration on the headstone, it suggests that he was in the military.  Could it have been in World War I – he would have been a bit old for that war.  Perhaps the Spanish-American War?  In any event, his wife, Anna, lived 43 years after he died, dying at the ripe old age of 80.  That would have been a very long life for a person born back in the late 1800s.

Grave of Johnny Mercer

There are a number of famous people, or at least famous graves here in Bonaventure Cemetery.  Johnny Mercer falls into the first category.  I have to admit that altho his name sounded familiar, and I thought it had to do with music, I wasn’t at all sure who he was.  He was born in 1909 and died in 1976.  He was a very famous song writer, and penned more than 1,000 lyrics.  He won 4 Oscars for movie lyrics, and wrote 7 Broadway shows. 

Headstone with Patina

Both of these headstones (above and below) were in what I believe is called the Basin Garden of the cemetery.  I am including them because they are great examples of some of the old headstones that have a patina on them that pretty much renders them unreadable.  I do hope that there are still family members around who remember their stories.

Worn Headstone

Abella’s Grave

This is another headstone in the same area as the two immediately above.  You can see how the patina and time are wearing away some of the lettering. I could make out that it was probably the grave of Abella and her husband, but I couldn’t make out many other details.

Enjoy!